His clone sleeps alone...

Rating: 6/10 (8 October 2007)

Skittering along at a rapid clip, "The Island" is ridiculously enjoyable. It seems rather silly to catalogue the film's inconsistencies--the whole brainless, derivative adventure is designed to be a thrill-ride, and serious film-buffs would be well advised to check their b.s.-detectors at the door. After the world has apparently been contaminated, survivors are rescued and taken to an underground, totalitarian society where men and women are virtually separated, dressed in all-white, and given droning jobs; they are also entered into a lottery which promises to whisk the lucky winners away to an island paradise to live out their lives in splendor. Naturally, one male "product", a deep thinker, challenges the rules, asks a lot of questions, and quickly comes to believe the whole set-up is a fraud. High-tech updating of "Logan's Run" (with perhaps some overtones of "Coma" as well) could be subtitled "There Is No Sanctuary!" There's an amusing preamble, but one senses early on that director Michael Bay cannot wait to dispense with the pesky formalities--he just wants the guy and his girl out on the open road with helicopters swirling overhead and bullet-ridden cars piling up on the freeway. The plot is actually worked out rather neatly, but Bay's scenario is crassly junked up with violent action and stunt work--so much so that we lose touch with these characters (this is a movie where it's easy to lose your bearings, as the whiplash editing keeps plowing ahead until not even the surroundings make sense anymore). Strictly as a popcorn fantasy, the film has its pleasures; there are funny bits spread about, and also the occasional wipe-out line (as with Ewan McGregor asking 'himself' if he's still a virgin). Incredible special-effects, an engrossing set-up, fine performances and a satisfying finale make "The Island" decent fare, but can anyone really recommend it without smiling out of shame? **1/2 from ****